November 20, 2007

Chinese Flight Attendants Face Sexist Hiring Practices

The Los Angeles Times features an article today on the screening process for Chinese flight attendants. Applicants must be younger than 24, be between 5' 3" and 5' 6" tall and be very pretty. There is even a swimsuit competition. Sounds outrageous, but Americans have been there before. In her book Femininity in Flight, Kathleen Barry details the sexism that early "air hostesses" and "stewardesses" faced before finally unionizing in the 1970s.